By Stephen Jiron
LA JARA — Another big win for the Falcons and Centauri is in postseason form.  Friday night the Falcons put together a lopsided 56-7 victory at home against Monte Vista.
Centauri (5-1) was riding high prior to their contest with the Pirates putting up three in a row. Monte Vista (1-5) entered Friday night fresh off their first win of the season. Though it was a chilly night, the Falcons came in hot.
After forcing a turnover on downs on Monte Vista’s first possession Centauri went to work. A block in the back would stall the Falcon’s first drive to a fourth down. On a fake punt, McKay Russell found Joshua Sowards to keep the drive alive. Four plays later and Eric Maez snuck in for the first score of the game. The point-after try put Centauri ahead 7-0. A punt from Monte Vista gave Centauri the ball again. The four-play drive was capped with a 15-yard score from Zach Buhr, the PAT giving Centauri a 14-0 lead. Following another punt from Monte Vista Centauri would drive 52 yards for their third of the night. The score went from Maez to Jordan Martin for 9 yards pushing the lead to 21-0 in favor of the home team.
Mason Claunch and Taj Cornum would each squeeze in touchdowns before the half putting the game firmly out of reach at the half 35-0. Back from the half Centauri would register two more scores, Maez’s second passing touchdown of the night and Baron Holman’s second interception of the night going 90 yards to the house. Monte Vista found the endzone before the running clock expired thanks to a rushing score from Cobi Garcia finalizing the score at 56-7 in favor of the home team.  
The win against Monte Vista extends Centauri’s season win streak to 4 games and makes 5 in a row between the two teams. Both squads will have softer games next week according to Rating Percentage Index (RPI) rankings.  Centauri will face the bottom team in 1A football Dolores (0-6), while Monte Vista can take out some frustrations on Ignacio (1-4). The Bobcats may move up the rankings with their victory over Center on Friday 38-21.
Elsewhere —
Sanford put the 8-Man Mountain league on notice Friday night. Entering their contest with Mancos (5-1) as underdogs, Sanford feathered the Blue Jays on the road. Leading 26-12 at the half Sanford ran away with the game hanging a 50-burger on host Mancos before all was said and done winning 52-24.
Alamosa needed a win on Friday night to stay in the black after taking back-to-back losses to underdogs these past two weeks. The Moose (4-2) did just that, routing league rival Montezuma-Cortez in a 56-0 shutout.